Our boat journey from Laos to Thailand last weekend was pretty relaxing, not least because there was only one other couple on the boat with us, giving us plenty of room to stretch out for the two long, 10-hour days.

The first day we stopped to see the Pak Ou Caves, set in a limestone cliff a steep climb up from the Mekong, where locals have been leaving Buddha statues for hundreds of years.

After an overnight stay at a lodge in Pakbeng (shown here only from the river as we arrived in darkness, and left at dawn), we continued on towards Thailand, making a stop at a Kamu village that was preparing for a festival, and saw girls practicing a dance.

Final pic is our arrival to the pier in Huay Xai (Houei Sai), where we were driven across the Friendship Bridge to make our land border crossing into Thailand.

#mekongriver #mekongcruise #pakoucaves #pakbeng #laos #thailand #huayxai